1895.] Mineralogy. 839 
investigation of the Greenland nephelene syenites and their associated 
rocks, describes nepheline altered to cancrinite, sodalite, analcite, 
hydronephelene, natrolite, and potash mica; also sodalite altered to 
analcite and natrolite and eudialite altered to katapleite and zircon. 
Besides numerous varieties of feldspar, augite and hornblende, he de- 
scribes Ainigmatite and Kélbingite from these rocks. The work is 
printed in the Danish language. 
Ww. H. Hosss. 
GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 
The Protolenus Fauna.—<An important paper based on the 
collections made by W. D. Matthews, of fossils from the lower part of 
the Cambrian rocks of New Brunswick in 1892, ’93 and ’94, was recently 
communicated to the New York Academy of Sciences by G. F. Mat- 
thews. From this article the following abstract has been made of the 
character of the fauna and the conclusions arrived at from its study. 
The fauna described is one of the oldest known. It consists of 
Foraminifera, Sponges, Molluscs and Crustaceans. All the Foramini- 
fera described are referred to the genera Orbulina and Globigerina ; 
the Sponges include Protospongia and others. The Molluscs are mostly 
hyalithoid shells of the genera Orthotheca, Hyolithus and Diplotheca. 
The Crustaceans are chiefly of the two groups, Ostracoda and Trilo- 
bita, of which the former are remarkable for the large number of 
genera and species, as compared with the trilobites; two predominant 
and characteristic genera are Hipponicharion and Beyrichona, All 
the trilobites are of genera peculiar to this fauna, except Ellipsoce- 
phalus, which, although one of the dominating types, also occurs in the 
Paradoxides beds of Europe. The most characteristic genus of trilo- 
bites is Protolenus, which is abundantly present in the typical beds. 
The following are some of the salient characters of the fauna as at 
present known: All the trilobites have continuous eye-lobes. This is 
decidedly a primitive character, and its value in this respect is shown 
by the genus Paradoxides of the overlying fauna, which began with 
small species having such eye-lobes, and culminated in the large forms 
of the upper Paradoxides beds in which the eye-lobe was considerably 
shortened. 
The important family of Ptychopariidae is absent. 
